Creator

I am the co-founder if a small company

it is not that big yet

when we go to a business meeting

silently I am introduced than either forgotten or am being looked at to get coffee for everyone

They say jokes that would be funnier if I didn’t understand them

They do not talk to me or at me

I sit silent at the end of the table

I wonder many things, would they pay attention to me

if I lost weight?

wore more revealing clothings?

screamed for no reason at all?

As I sit listening to their routine conversation I studying them

I wonder if they have ever harmed any women in their life?

How do they treat their daughters?

When my company sponsors a musical benefit

I am ignored

Women in their culture do not get recognized if they hold a position equal or higher than a man

I gaze at their musicians while they make their instruments weep

They catch my gaze and look away quickly

They do not know my name I am called, “Hey You.”

I am the only woman in a room full of men

My business partner always wants my opinion so I feel

included in the male dominated world

I offer to help them, they just smile at me and pat my hand

When the day comes they bring in a guy who doesn’t know anything about what they are doing, but he is a male

This is the reason I am angry all the time

This is the reason I fight

This is the reason I am by myself

I don’t rely on anyone

I recognize their actions

They are my dads

Who groomed me to always need a man

I do not tell him how many times I have been raped for knowing he would blame me and be happy his wish came true

I do not trust men.

I do not look forward to getting married.

I do not look forward to being pregnant

Or having a kid by them.

As we drive back to the benefit

I reply, “I said I would take the tickets yesterday. But, all of a sudden he called his friend at the last moment.”

He says, “Who cares?”

I want to scream, “I do.”

But I remember “Choose your battles.”

I choose this one and every battle that women are held down and oppressed in.